


Of Princesses and Dragons

by venomandchampagne (sushibunny)



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, F/M, Knight Klaus, Princess Carolines, There Be Dragons Here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-23 06:56:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9645317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sushibunny/pseuds/venomandchampagne
Summary: The brave knight Klaus has been sent on a quest to rescue the Princess Caroline, who was kidnapped by a dragon years ago.But things are not always as they seem...





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LynyrdLionheart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LynyrdLionheart/gifts).



> I really liked your prompts, so I decided to put a little spin on one ;) I hope you enjoy Fairy Tales with a twist!

Klaus continued to make his way cautiously up the steep stone steps, sword and shield at the ready. He had yet to encounter the dragon that was supposed to be guarding the tower he was currently climbing, but he knew better than to let his guard down. He didn’t get to become a knight by being careless, after all.

As he approached the peak of the tower he slowed his pace, prepared for a fight as soon as he burst through the door at the top of the winding stairs. He would have to be careful, as this was supposed to be where the foul beast kept the princess it was guarding locked up- it wouldn’t do well to injure her in the process of saving her life.

With one last deep breath- and a prayer to the gods above- Klaus kicked open the heavy wooden door and leapt into the room, ready to fight flames and fang. He braced himself for the inevitable attack, shield held in front-

But nothing happened.

Slowly, he lowered his shield, eyes darting suspiciously around the room, but there was no sign of the dragon. The room was not quite empty, however, as piles of gold and jewels littered the floor. _Must be the dragon’s nest_ , he thought, slowly making his way further inside, intent to locate the missing princess now that there was no immediate danger. It only took him a few minutes of navigating around the great mounds of treasure to find a large bed- one fit for a princess, certainly- on which the much sought after girl lay, asleep.

Klaus quietly approached, glancing out the large window for any sign of the creature before he turned his attention to the slumbering beauty before him. The tales had not done her justice, failing to properly describe the shining glory of her long blonde curls, or the pale beauty of her clear, soft-looking skin. He supposed she must be around his sister’s age, old enough to be wed and only a few years younger than himself.

Not that any of that mattered, of course; Klaus was just there to bring her home and slay the dragon, a quest given to him by King William himself, the girl’s father. Many a knight had been sent since the girl had been kidnapped on her seventeenth birthday, but all had failed- either returning wounded and in shame or not at all. The reward was more gold and land than a knight of humble birth could ever hope to acquire, and that was more than enough incentive for Klaus. Even if the princess’ hand in marriage had been his prize for her rescue, Klaus was more sure than ever upon gazing at her sleeping visage that he would be wholly unworthy of such a treasure. Still, if he had been required to kiss the fair maiden awake as in so many tall tales he had heard as a child, he would not have minded in the least.

He sheathed his sword before kneeling at her bedside, intending to wake her and hopefully get her to safety before the dragon returned. He could return later to defeat the beast once she was safely away from her prison.

“Princess, please, wake up,” he said softly, unsure if he was allowed to touch royalty and shake her awake, even in such a perilous situation. “Princess Caroline, I am here to rescue you. Please, wake up before the dragon returns.”

Eventually the princess began to rouse, eyelids flickering before finally sliding open, and Klaus almost lost his breath at the gorgeous clear blue of her eyes as they focused in on him.

And then he did lose his breath- and most of his other faculties- when she opened her rosy pink lips and spoke:

“Who the hell are you?”

It took a few moments and a raised brow on her end for Klaus to manage to put together a coherent sentence. “Uh, I’m Klaus. Ah, I’m a knight sent by your father to rescue you.” At her wholly unladylike snort, he continued, albeit more cautiously. “We should go now, while the way is still clear, before the monster returns.”

“Monster, huh?” Caroline rolled her eyes, pushing herself up in the bed, forcing Klaus to stand in order to maintain proper eye contact. “Is that what my _father_ told you?”

Klaus gave her a strange look, not understanding her meaning. “The tale of your kidnapping by the dragon is quite well known throughout the kingdom. King William has sent many brave knights to your rescue over the years- I am but the latest volunteer.”

“Yeah, well, sorry to disappoint you… Klaus, but I’m not going anywhere.”

“Please, sweetheart, we don’t have time for this,” he said, slipping into the more familiar way of speaking he used with his siblings when they were being particularly stubborn. “The dragon could return at any moment, it’s not safe to linger.”

“Tell me, _Sir Klaus_ ,” she continued, as if he hadn’t spoken. “What _exactly_ did my father say your mission was?”

Frowning, Klaus answered her slowly. “To save his daughter, Princess Caroline, and slay the dragon.”

A sad look crossed her features before it was quickly replaced by one as hard as the stone walls themselves. “I thought as much…” she said softly before slipping into a long silence.

“Princess…?”

Caroline glanced back at him, looking almost as if she had forgotten he was still there. “Look, you don’t seem like a horrible guy or anything-” Klaus had to fight a glare at the comment- “but if you don’t go and leave me alone, I’m going to have to kill you.”

His eyes went wide in surprise. “I’m sorry?” It would have been funny, a hilarious joke, if Caroline didn’t look so serious as she said it. Still, the idea of a captured princess killing him, an experienced knight? It was absurd.

“Me too, but I’ll do what I must to stay free,” Caroline declared, giving him a determined look before rising from the bed to stand facing him.

“I don’t understand.” Why would a princess not want to return home? To her parents, her castle, her kingdom? Klaus was at a complete loss as he stared at the girl in front of him, arms crossed stubbornly over her chest. “I just want to make sure you’re safe, love.” He felt oddly protective of her- and more than just his title of knight required. Something about her just drew him in.

Caroline eyed him for a minute, eyes seeming to search into his very soul before she came to a decision, sighing deeply and dropping her arms before answering. “The dragon isn’t coming back, Klaus.” At his confused look she continued, “The dragon never left.”

His head whipped around, searching the small room as well as he could for the presence of the creature. Maybe it was a particularly small dragon? Soft laughter brought his focus back to the princess, a warmth filling his chest as he saw her lips quirk into a smile as she giggled at him.

“No, I don’t mean it’s hiding somewhere in here,” she said, lips pulled into a wry smile. “I mean _I’m_ the dragon.”

Klaus looked at her with wide-eyed confusion, not understanding. _How could she be a dragon when she was clearly a beautiful woman?_

“A curse,” Caroline said, blushing and glancing away, and Klaus realized he had posed his question aloud. Well. “Before I was born my father had managed to piss off the wrong witch, and she cursed me to turn into a dragon on my seventeenth birthday. My parents searched for a cure for years, but apparently they’re not so easy to come by. So when I turned seventeen, I changed.”

Klaus listened with rapt attention as Caroline told him her secret, pacing the length of the bed nervously as she spoke.

“I can turn back, obviously, but it was impossible to control at first, so my father had me sent away to this tower. He was ashamed of me and didn’t want anyone to know my dirty secret.”

The bitterness was apparent in her voice, and Klaus felt a pang of pity for the poor girl. He didn't know why but he believed her, the honestly clear in her eyes as she spoke. “But then why would he send me- and the rest of the knights- here?”

Caroline gave an incredulous huff. “Isn’t it obvious? He sent you to kill me. To cover up his most shameful secret.”

Klaus didn’t know how to respond to that. He felt a conditioned urge to speak up, to defend his king. But really, how could anyone defend such a thing? A wave of guilt washed over him as the thought occurred to him of what might have happened if Caroline had been in her dragon form when he arrived. He preferred not to dwell too long on that thought.

“Anyway, you don’t need to worry about any of that,” Caroline said with a wave of her hand. “You can just go home, tell him I was moved somewhere else by the dragon or whatever. I’ll find somewhere else to live and be safe from his attempts to get rid of me.”

“But where will you go, love?” he found himself asking without thought. “Surely word of a dragon appearing anywhere will make its way back to your father; it’s not like they’re commonplace, you know.”

Caroline regarded him thoughtfully for a moment before sighing, sitting back down on the bed in defeat. “You’re right. But what else can I do?”

He wasn’t sure why he felt such a need to help her- truly his quest was over after all he had heard. He should just take her advice and return home. But something about her- be it her fiery attitude or her unwillingness to give in- intrigued him, made him want to help her, get to know her.

“Let me kill you.”

Her eyes went narrow as soon as the rushed words left his mouth, irises flashing a bright blue as she glared at him. “ _What_.”

“Not for real, I mean,” Klaus said quickly, hurrying to assure her. “I can go back and tell your father I slayed the dragon, but his daughter was nowhere to be found.”

“But why should he believe you? What’s to stop him from sending more knights to check your story?”

He pursed his lips in thought before they curled in a cunning smile, not failing to notice the way Caroline’s eyes were drawn to them. “Give me a token, something to bring back to the king to prove I fought a dragon. A talon or a scale. I will tell him that your body disappeared in a cloud of smoke after you died; it’s not a farfetched concept when dealing with curses and magic, after all.”

Caroline listened intently, seeming to relax more and more as Klaus went on with his plan, telling her how she could stash her treasures in the forest to use as she wished later, and that she could hide out on his rewarded land with him and his siblings; her father would never expect to find her in the home of a modest knight.

“But won’t it be an inconvenience? My staying with you and your family?” she asked, looking shy for the first time since he had met her. “I wouldn’t want to intrude…”

“Nonsense, sweetheart. They’d love you, I’m sure. And besides, I wouldn’t have any land to speak of without our little deal, so it’s more like I owe you,” Klaus said reassuringly, giving her a grin that brought a pretty blush to her cheeks.

“Alright, we have a deal then.” She held her hand out for Klaus to shake to seal the deal, but instead he raised it to his lips, smirking against her soft skin as he placed a kiss on the back of her hand.

“Insufferable…”

He chuckled at the murmur before stepping back. “Now, perhaps you should change so we can get our plan underway.”

“Alright, turn around then,” Caroline agreed, twirling her finger around in a motion indicating he should turn his back to her.

Klaus frowned slightly, unsure, but did as she asked. His eyes went wide as he registered the sound of rustling fabric falling to the floor before a feeling like all the air being sucked from the room overcame him and he staggered forward a moment before he was able to catch himself. Turning instinctively to check on the princess, his eyes went wide as he took in the sight of a large golden dragon where Caroline had been only moments before.

The creature- Caroline- was beautiful. Her scales rippled in the sunlight streaming in through the window, a gold the same magnificent shade as her hair. Broad wings stretched wide before folding against her back, looking strong and powerful even at rest. The tail and claws were more impressive than those of any creature Klaus had ever seen before- and much more intimidating. The dragon’s eyes were that same bright blue, bottomless and all consuming as he stared back into them.

_Well, what do you think?_

He felt more than heard the voice echoing inside his mind, but the now familiar tone of Caroline’s voice set him at ease. “Beautiful,” he found himself whispering without thought.

_That’s… not what I meant. But… thank you._

If dragons could blush Klaus was fairly certain Caroline would be.

_Here._

He watched intently as Caroline twisted her neck and tugged a scale from her back with her teeth, dropping it at his feet. He quickly pocketed the proof, running his thumb over the smooth scale for a moment in awe before looking back up at her.

_Hmm, we should probably make it look like you were in a fight, don’t you think?_

Klaus could feel the smirk in her words and gave her an unimpressed look, though he made no move to stop her when she approached him. With more delicacy than he would have thought possible of a creature her size, Caroline took his shield from him, biting and clawing at it until it looked thoroughly battleworn. She tipped her head to regard him for a moment before speaking again.

_I don’t want to hurt you, Klaus, but it seems pretty unlikely that you’d fight a dragon and get away without a scratch; no offense._

He smirked. “None taken. Do what you must.”

Klaus was proud to say he only let out a loud hiss when her claws raked down his chest, cutting open both cloth and chainmail alike as if they were nothing. The wounds were not deep, but they still appeared quite brutal, bleeding a fair bit at first. The small nick to his forehead didn’t hurt nearly as much as the scraping of teeth against his thigh, though Klaus managed to remain still and silent through the entire ordeal.

_I'm sorry._

The tone was laced with regret and sorrow, and despite the pain, Klaus felt a desire to comfort her instead of seeking such for himself.

“It's alright, sweetheart. It had to be done. And I don't mind a little pain if it will help you in the end.”

Large blue eyes regarded him carefully for a long moment, and Klaus could tell she wasn't sure if she should believe him. Ultimately Caroline just have decided in his favor, as she turned to face the window- just big enough for her to fit through- before bending down and looking at him.

_Hop on, I'll give you a lift down._

He was stunned at the offer, and almost wanted to refuse, but then he thought better of denying a dragon- even if she was also a princess; maybe especially then.

Klaus carefully clamored up her back, seating himself between the ridges along her back, behind her neck and in front of her wings. It was almost like being a top a horse- if that horse was almost the size of a small house and could maim you in one strike. Still, it was rather exciting; not many people could say they had ridden a dragon- and lived after.

_I'll take you as far as the woods, but then I should leave you so no one sees me. I'll meet you in the thicket you mentioned in two nights time- and yes, I will be fine until then!_

Klaus chuckled, closing his mouth on the worry he had been about to express. Clearly Caroline could take care of herself- dragon or not. Before he could say anything else she took off, leaping out the window without preamble and soaring into the clouds. Klaus was forced to cling tightly to her neck, holding on for dear life as Caroline swooped and dove through the sky. He was fairly certain the rumbling he felt beneath him was her laughing at him.

He couldn't be bothered, however, as he took in the sight of the world from his new vantage point. Everything looked so small down below them, yet still beautiful.

“Marvelous,” he breathed, and Caroline's dragon hearing must have been quite impressive, because an answering thought was in his mind a moment later.

_There's a whole world out there, Klaus. Maybe one day I'll show it to you._

Klaus couldn't stop the grin that curved his lips even if he wanted to. “You're on, sweetheart.”


End file.
